Sports Fans

Our 3-week vacation has begun. DH had been down in San Diego taking a class for the past 2 weeks, so the boys & I flew down Monday night to join him. Direct flight from Anchorage to LAX - very nice! Now that AK air charges for checked bags, we carried on 2 bags & checked 1 + carseats (no charge for those, TG), made getting out of LAX relatively easy. (Finding the correct parking garage is another story..)

Our first event was attending the World Football Challenge on Tuesday night at the Rose Bowl. My favorite English Premiere League team, Chelsea FC, was playing. I've been pretty excited about this game & seeing my favorite player, Michael Ballack. However, come to find out the night before that MB had injured his toe during their stint in Seattle, and was flying home for treatment. What?!? Apparently there are better toe doctors in the UK? Oh well -

Team Stretch

We were seated in the Chelsea fan area- behind the south end goal. Not too bad, and the price was right. We were able to watch Petr Cech (goalkeep) warm up. Very exciting. This was also the goal Chelsea was shooting for during the 2nd half & where we were able to watch Lampard convert a penalty kick for a 2 - 0 lead. A man behind us gave my youngest a Chelsea flag to wave during the match. Apparently the man was from London, so the flag is truly authentic. He let us keep it & will be a nice adornment to my classroom this year.

Overall a great evening - Will Ferrell was the honorary captain for Chelsea, Charlize Theron was in attendance to support the Special Olympics, and I spied Ashton Kutcher (w/o Demi) sitting on the sidelines. Pretty fun. Finding our car was quite the challenge after - most fans were parked at the adjacent golf course & there was really no rhyme nor reason to finding your spot. We wandered the course in the dark for quite a bit before we were successful.


Day 2 of vacation brought us to Petco Park to watch the trouncing of the Padres by the Florida Marlins. Pretty quick game w/a 5 - 0 final in favor of Florida. Bummer... I guess all of our good karma for the team of choice wore off the night before.

The nice thing about the baseball game is that it provides plenty of opportunity for knitting. During the soccer match, you stand for the entire 90 minutes w/non-stop action. Not very conducive to knitting (at least not for me). So - I've almost finished sock #1 that I cast-on during our flight from Anchorage Monday evening. My goal is to finish at least 2 pairs of socks prior to Sock Summit.

Well - more to come. Plans during our San Diego visit include time at the pool, the beach, and a visit to the World Famous San Diego Zoo.

Perhaps some knitting photos on the next post. Before you log off for the day, be sure to wander over to Winston's Mom blog to wish her a happy birthday! Ciao!

Yeah Buddy!

Vive Le Football! Today Team USA beat Team Spain in the Confederations Cup 2 - 0 to advance to the semifinals. DH & I are incredibly happy & of course a bit shocked that Team USA, a team that barely made it out of group 1, beat the #1 soccer team in the world! Whoot!! The 2nd goal by Clint Dempsey was via some luck (can we say SHOOT THE BALL DONOVAN!), but as I tell my team when I'm coaching - it doesn't matter how the ball gets into the net; you don't earn style points in soccer.

So - Team USA will face the winner of the Brazil/South Africa semi-final on Sunday. I think perhaps I'll invite my over-35 coed team over to cheer on Team USA & get psyched for our evening game. By the way - I've scored 2 hat tricks (6 goals total) in as many games - Whoot!!

To appease my knitting friends:

OTN:

1) Hey, Teach #2. I've finished the back & half of the left front. I began this project in early spring only for it to sit at the bottom of my knitting bag. I'm using size 8 needles which I needed for another project (see below), but alas this sweater had other ideas. I could not get one of the needle tips off to use on the other project. I guess this is a way of Hey, Teach telling me to get with the program & finish it up already.



2) February Lady Sweater. I'm not sure when I began this project, although I do know I've frogged it once to drop down a needle size & change garment sizes. I just need to finish the 3rd button hole & then begin the lace section. I was looking for some easy garter stitch as a break from the current sock project (see below), but forgot I'd switched out the needle tips for the Hey, Teach. Since Hey,Teach wasn't willing to give up the tips, FLS has to be patient for just a wee bit longer. Not like I'll be wearing the sweater any time soon.

3) Fraggle Squiggle Socks (rav link)- the May 2009 RSC installment. I've almost finished sock #1 & I'm not feeling the love. The colorway, which I love, is too busy for the lace pattern. I'd considered frogging it during our week-long road trip (more on that later), but decided against it since it was the only project I had with me. I think I'll sally forth, but it won't be a priority. I'd really love to see this knit up in a semi-solid so the lace pattern can be easily seen and appreciated. Of course, I'm not volunteering for the job.

Off-TN:

1) Cabled Wrap (rav link) - I've just decided, after ~10+inches (out of 67) that the yarn weight I'm using will not create the drape I want for this project. So.... I'm either going to use this yarn (Queensland Collection Rustic Tweed) on an Ishbel or Braided Wrap (rav link) - we'll see...

2) Another BSJ & matching booties for a dear friend. - I still have to block these & get them packed up before they are revealed here.

Lots to do during summer vacation & of course this doesn't even mention the homework (can you believe it??) I have to do for the Sock Summit.

Ciao!

Thanks to Courtney, I just spent the last 4 minutes assessing what should I know about Human Anatomy & Physiology:

I named 17 organs in 4 minutes!

In all fairness - I named WAY more than the 17 this quiz gave me credit for. I think I was only missing 6 according to the quiz. I named 'skin' - it is the largest organ of the human body, yet it didn't count. I named veins - yup, that counted, but arteries did not. The small intestine and large intestine were combined as 'intestines'. I typed in 'adrenal gland', when the quiz only accepted 'adrenals'. This was a fun way to spend 4 minutes & a great way to avoid doing laundry.

When you don't have a regular table - a wooden sock blocker works just fine! I'm writing the line-up rotation for the U-8 soccer team I coach on Saturdays.

On the knitting front:

I'm almost finished with sleeve #1 of the Central Park Hoodie - I had to rip back about 17 rows to fix a hole and a cable. I'm waiting for my knit picks 60" cable so I can pick up the button band ribbing all along the hood and both fronts. The pattern calls for picking up half of the stitches at a time, but I think a continuous band from the bottom right all the way over to the left front would look so much nicer. It's running a bit small, so I think I'm going to add a zipper rather than buttons - that should give me an additional inch.

I'm beginning some Christmas knitting as well - a hat for hubby in the colors of the high school where he works, as well as some hats and mittens for my children's teachers. I can't believe it's already the middle of November - time sure does fly.

On the soccer front: My knees are holding up & I'm enjoying being back in the game. Last night I played as a sub for an over-30 league. This league plays small sided games (4 v 4 + goalie) on the small end zones of our large inside field. It was way more relaxed & fun - you actually had to worry about touch on the ball & technique rather than speed and strength. As a result - I scored 2 goals & had one assist in our 4 - 1 victory. Now - why can't I do that in my regular league games?

Winter has arrived here in Southcentral AK - last weekend we went ice skating at Potters March - a large wetland perfect for skating when it's frozen & there isn't an appreciable accumulation of snow. Here Iain & some friends are showing off the fish they caught. - They broke open a hole in the ice & just scooped it out. Iain is wearing the mink hat his Iain is wearing the mink hat his Oba (Japanese word for grandmother - she's my stepmother) made for him.

Stay warm & knit on. Off to soccer games #2 & #3 for the weekend. I hope there are more goals left in my shoes!

Always the Bridesmaid....

and never the bride.

It didn't happen for Michael Ballack and the German national team, again. Germany ended up losing 0 - 1 in a lackluster appearance by the German squad. Spain outplayed, out-shot, and out-hustled (hmmm - sounding awfully like Survivor...) the Germans for 90 minutes. Sad, sad, sad.

My man and his teammates just couldn't get the job done. Poor MB - Runner up in their 2002 World Cup loss to Brazil, (although he wasn't able to play in the finals due to a red card), Third Place in 2006 World Cup, and Runner up this year with his club team, Chelsea in the FA and UEFA Champions League cups. Check out this article for more details. I guess his #13 is proving to be unlucky. I wonder if he'll play through to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. At 31 (almost 32) years of age, he is considered an 'older' (groan) player.

However - it's been a great tournament. Tons of last minute goals and excitement. For instance, in the game of Germany vs Turkey - a header caused injury on both sides - the players ran to the sidelines for treatment. How was the Turkish player treated? - A STAPLE GUN!! Yes - a few strategically placed staples into the back of the head & the player was back on the field. How nuts is that?

Oh well - I feel Ballack & Germany's pain, but today, Spain was the better team.

Vive Le Futbol!!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love soccer/futbol? I have? Really? You know, I'm usually so subtle about such things (ask Mags - I think she might know my thoughts about ham & fruit cake...)

Another highlight of The Roach Road Trip '08 has come & gone. Last Saturday, the Roach clan attended the LA Galaxy vs The Columbus Crew soccer game. For those of you who are unaware, international soccer super star, David Beckham, plays for the LA Galaxy. This is his 2nd season with the team, and by all accounts is doing well.

Orion was in hog-heaven. He's been anticipating this game for quite a while now. He was hoping to get Becks' autograph, but didn't. As you can see from the LA Galaxy swag he's sporting (we did drop a few shekels at the game), he was still pretty happy. Even though the photos aren't the greatest, we did have pretty good seats for the game.

Here is Becks pre-game. You can also see Landon Donovan (#10) who also plays for the US National team. So - 2 big name players on one team - pretty cool. I saw Donovan play for the US during the 2006 World Cup tournament. He scored twice on Saturday. Where were those goals during the Ghana game which knocked the US out of the tournament? Hmmm


The score board after goal #1 - assist from Beckham, goal credited to Donovan. As you can see - the goal came pretty early - within the 1st 4 minutes of play.

The game ended in a 3 - 3 draw (LA gave up a 2 - 0 lead) which was okay. To see 6 goals - 2 of which were PKs (penalty kicks), was pretty incredible. Beckham almost had the winning goal late in the 2nd half, but sent the ball flying over the cross bar. Whooops...
I also want to meet the marketing genius who thought of the idea of selling scarves at soccer games. I purchased one at the 2006 World Cup while Germany was stifling under a crazy heat wave. Also - Saturday night in LA was a scorcher... scarves, indeed. At least I know if they don't become wall decor in the boys' bedrooms at home, they will at least be useful.

It was Ball night, so the 1st 5000 fans to enter the stadium received a #5 LA Galaxy ball. Wade picked up 4 (one for each ticket) and ended up giving 2 away to kids sitting near us who didn't receive a ball. He's so nice, my dear hubby.

Here's a quick glimpse of the game - I guess I don't need to use YouTube after all.

Great game, fun times. I think Wade now understands why I'd love to go to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Although, I think he'd be happy with going to the 2012 European Championships. Yes - the Roach clan lives & breathes soccer. I don't know what we're going to do after Sunday when the Euro 2008 finals are over. We've been in sort of a funk waiting for the semifinal games to begin on Wednesday, GO GERMANY!!

While I can knit during a baseball game, no can do during soccer - too much action. Wade & I were both amazed at how fast 90 minutes + 15 minute half time can go by.

The End... (Beckham's that is...)

Take Me Out To the Ball Game...

We've arrived at Wade's brother's house in San Diego. Okay - technically he lives in Carlsbad, which is north of S.D. But - when you've driven almost 5000 miles, it's close enough.

Today we went to Petco Park to watch the San Diego Padres take on the Florida Marlins. Let's cut to the chase - the Padres lost. Not much of an exciting game - 3 up, 3 down. Great pitching by the Pads, but horrible hitting. Apparently they forgot that in order to score - you have to get on base. In order to get on base, it's usually easier to hit the ball really far & run. Relying on the opposing pitcher to throw balls or hit you with a pitch is really a poor strategy. See - I don't even play baseball & I can figure that out!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the opportunity to go to Germany last summer & attend a World Cup Soccer match. My friend Lisa & I went to the U.S. vs. Ghana game. The U.S. lost, but that didn't matter - it was the atmosphere & experience which made for an unforgettable time. During the excitement - I had time to ponder the striking differences between watching a soccer game vs. watching a baseball game.

Going to a game is a fun outing for the family. We sat on the third base line in row 11. A few foul balls were hit our way - that certainly gets your attention. I'm not a great baseball player by any stretch of the imagination & I was a bit worried about a ball bouncing off the tops of our heads. Fortunately we didn't have to worry this time. The fact that complete strangers can get together & celebrate a double play and commiserate a missed opportunity is fascinating. It's a great time to forget about the horrible things happening in the world. It's an opportunity for hope. Perhaps the World's leaders need to forget this war thing & agree to duke it out on the futbol pitch or baseball field. Again - just a thought.

Of course - another fun thing about a baseball game, is it provides great opportunities for knitting! :0)